Ranking NFL teams by age after 53-man cutdowns: 2019 edition

As of roughly 8:45 p.m. on cut-down day, when we finished collecting data from all 32 NFL team website rosters, the Miami Dolphins had the youngest team in the NFL.

The Dolphins, of course, made a blockbuster trade today in which they acquired a pair of first-round picks, as well as a second-round pick from the Houston Texans for Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills. Before that trade, the Dolphins already had 11 draft picks in the 2020 NFL Draft, according to this, as well as a pair of projected compensatory picks. They could be the youngest team in the league for a few years.

By the time you read this, this data will already out of date as teams continue to make tweaks to their rosters, although even with continued roster movement, the average ages of each team shouldn’t change much. Here are the results, with a recent historic look at the average ages of each team on 53-man cut down day:

Team

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

Dolphins

25.2 (1)

26.5 (26)

26.6 (29)

26.2 (20)

25.6 (4)

Bucs

25.4 (2)

26.1 (22)

26.2 (21)

25.7 (8)

25.9 (11)

Browns

25.4 (3)

25.3 (2)

24.2 (1)

25.1 (2)

26.1 (16)

Seahawks

25.5 (4)

25.7 (9)

25.8 (13)

25.6 (7)

25.9 (12)

Packers

25.5 (5)

25.7 (10)

25.7 (11)

25.4 (3)

25.5 (3)

Vikings

25.5 (6)

25.5 (6)

26.1 (20)

26.6 (31)

25.8 (7)

Colts

25.6 (7)

25.6 (8)

25.6 (5)

26.5 (29)

27.2 (32)

Jaguars

25.6 (8)

25.5 (5)

25.6 (7)

25.4 (4)

25.3 (2)

Raiders

25.6 (9)

27.4 (32)

26.1 (19)

26 (13)

26.5 (23)

Rams

25.6 (10)

25.5 (4)

25.1 (2)

25 (1)

24.9 (1)

Broncos

25.7 (11)

26 (17)

26 (16)

25.5 (5)

26.2 (18)

49ers

25.7 (12)

25.8 (15)

25.7 (10)

26.1 (16)

25.8 (8)

Bengals

25.7 (13)

25.2 (1)

25.5 (3)

26.3 (23)

26.3 (20)

Steelers

25.7 (14)

25.9 (16)

26.1 (18)

26.3 (24)

26.6 (26)

Chargers

25.8 (15)

25.8 (14)

25.7 (8)

25.7 (9)

26.3 (21)

Chiefs

25.9 (16)

25.8 (13)

25.9 (14)

25.5 (6)

25.8 (6)

Ravens

25.9 (17)

26 (18)

26.4 (25)

26.4 (27)

26 (15)

Giants

26.0 (18)

26.1 (21)

25.7 (9)

26 (14)

26.5 (25)

Texans

26.0 (19)

25.6 (7)

25.5 (4)

26.2 (19)

25.8 (5)

Washington

26.1 (20)

26.2 (23)

25.9 (15)

26.4 (25)

26.2 (17)

Saints

26.2 (21)

26.3 (24)

26.5 (28)

26.4 (26)

26.7 (29)

Bears

26.2 (22)

25.7 (12)

26.3 (22)

25.9 (10)

26.2 (19)

Lions

26.2 (23)

26.6 (27)

25.8 (12)

26.1 (18)

26.5 (24)

Cowboys

26.3 (24)

25.4 (3)

26.1 (17)

26 (12)

26 (14)

Panthers

26.3 (25)

26.8 (29)

26.8 (31)

26.5 (30)

26.9 (31)

Bills

26.3 (26)

26.7 (28)

26.7 (30)

26.3 (22)

25.9 (10)

Cardinals

26.4 (27)

26.5 (25)

27.3 (32)

26.1 (17)

26.4 (22)

Falcons

26.5 (28)

26.9 (31)

26.4 (24)

27.1 (32)

26.8 (30)

Titans

26.5 (29)

26.1 (20)

26.5 (27)

25.9 (11)

25.8 (9)

Jets

26.5 (30)

26 (19)

25.6 (6)

26.2 (21)

26.6 (27)

Eagles

26.6 (31)

25.7 (11)

26.4 (23)

26.5 (28)

26.7 (28)

Patriots

27.0 (32)

26.8 (30)

26.5 (26)

26.1 (15)

25 (13)

Note: Every year I do this study, I seem to get the same basic comment, which I'll address ahead of time.

"The difference between the Dolphins and Patriots is only 1.8 years. So what?"

While 1.8 years may not be a monumental difference between two individual players, keep in mind that these are the average ages of 53 players per team.

1.8 years on average * 53 players = A difference of about 95.4 total years between the Dolphins and Patriots.

In other words, if you took the 19 oldest Patriots and shaved 5 years off each of their ages, their roster still wouldn't be as young as the Dolphins' roster.

To note, "old" doesn't mean "bad," especially for a team like the Patriots, who are Super Bowl contenders every year. But certainly, you don't want to be old and bad, like some of the teams on the chart above. And obviously, teams that are both young and talented can feel pretty good about their long-term chances of being consistent contenders.